Pretzels
by PoisonBones
Summary: Kankuro encounters Gaara in the kitchen one early morning. Post- Chuunin exams.


Gaara rummaged through the cabinet, searching for something that was reasonably edible. It was the usual raid, 2 a.m. in the first floor kitchen of the Kazekage's home. His stomach had been hollowed by the sleepless night, and Gaara impatiently shoved aside Kankuro's personal stash of honeyed candies, not even bothering to swear when he speared himself on a used mousetrap. There was no sand in the house, no sand to protect him.

He was dressed in a plain black T-shirt with a pair of cream colored house pants. His hair was ragged, greasy, and jutted out in every possible direction. The circles around his eyes were even darker than normal, if it was possible. The Shukaku had been having a party in the front of his skull, before sitting down and doing nothing in a bothersome silence. It was enticing, and Gaara seemed to find himself more awake than he normally was.

He pulled a box of granola squares down from the shelf and opened it, sifting through the grain pieces with a picky expression. Deciding that they were potentially harmless, he inserted one into his mouth and began to chew thoughtfully. He swallowed and stuck another one in. they were fine, a bit stale maybe, but Temari wasn't exactly top gun when it came to keeping food up to date. A shuffle in the hall made Gaara pause mid-chew. Kankuro stepped into the kitchen, yawning, and turned on the light.

Gaara's eyes naturally adjusted to the darkness, practically giving him night vision. He did not need the kitchen light shining over him in order to eat, but Kankuro did, and his reaction to seeing his little brother standing at the counter, staring at him as though he were assessing his very soul, was generic.

His eyes widened, and he jumped back with a little, high pitched 'squeak'.

"O-oh, sorry Gaara. I didn't know you were in here." He stuttered. Gaara blinked.

"Uhm….." Kankuro swallowed and swept the room with his eyes, before meeting Gaara's sight with a shaking gaze, "I was just reading and stuff, like- working on my puppets. I thought I could just grab a snack-"

Gaara continued to stare at his brother with a blank and unreadable expression. _Does he expect me to be impressed?_

"Ah," Kankuro took a step back, "I'll just go back upstairs."

Kankuro turned to make a hasty escape, when Gaara's scratchy voice followed him.

"You can eat."

Kankuro froze. He closed his eyes and swallowed. _He's not going to kill me, I haven't given him any reason to kill me, so he shouldn't kill me .….. Right?_

Kankuro slowly made his way back to the kitchen. Gaara still stood at the counter, but he had returned his interest to the box of granola squares. He extended an arm and held the box out to Kankuro. Kankuro stuck his hand in the offered box and pulled out a few, sticking one in his mouth. He grimaced.

"They're a bit stale." Gaara said, biting into another one, "But they count as a snack, I think."

Kankuro cautiously made a circle around his brother, stepping up to the cabinet on Gaara's left. He pulled it open and reached for the bag of pretzels. He pulled a bowl down and pulled the bag open, dumping in half of its contents. Gaara stood silent behind him, but Kankuro could hear him chewing.

"Do- ah, do you _like_ granola, Gaara?" Kankuro felt like an idiot. That was the stupidest thing he probably could have said right then. Do you like granola, what a way to inquire on death. This wasn't-

"Yeah." Kankuro looked back at his brother with a raised brow. It was the first time Gaara had admitted to liking anything, or even directly answered a question that was asked of him.

Though, Gaara had been weird since the Chuunin exams. It was as if he actually wanted to socialize with his siblings, but didn't exactly know how to go about it. It freaked Kankuro out a bit, but he was slowly falling into the practice of slight interaction with his little brother, no matter how terrifying he was, even seeking it out a little, swallowing down the fear and attempting a friendly demeanor. Gaara had come into his room and watched him work on his puppets yesterday, and Temari said that he had helped her pick up the living room, after the accumulation of dirty dishes and Kankuro's nasty socks had amounted to disarray.

"Really?" Kankuro asked incredulously. Gaara frowned at him.

"…Yes. Is that bad?"

"No! I just didn't think you had any preferences is all." Kankuro jumped up and sat on the counter, sticking a pretzel into his mouth, "Do you like anything else?"

"Yes."

"Like what?"

Gaara frowned at the box of granola squares in his hand, "….. I like pretzels."

Kankuro nodded, "Yeah, I like'm too. You want some?"

Kankuro offered the bowl, biting his tongue. Gaara slowly reached out and took one, but he didn't eat it, he just held it in his hand.

"Anything else?"

Gaara's eyes seemed to adjust, and he looked at Kankuro, nodding, "I like orange juice. And grapes."

Kankuro felt a twinge of triumph. The fear of being violently murdered began to ebb away. He was on a roll, asking Gaara repetitive questions, without him making any hostile inquiries. Maybe he could get to know a bit about him. But what? He couldn't just sit and asked him what he liked to eat, that would get real old real quick. Kankuro remembered seeing Gaara sitting in the library one day, a book in his hands, looking mildly content.

"Do you like to read?" He asked, shoving a handful of pretzels into his mouth.

"Yes!" Kankuro might've jumped at Gaara's excited tone had he not been prepared for anything, "I like old books."

"What kind of old books?"

"The ones that talk properly. I read one yesterday that said doth, and put –eth at the end of everything."

Kankuro nodded again. He didn't like reading. It was probably his least favorite activity in all of history. But Gaara seemed to like it, and to be able to have an actual conversation with his brother was intriguing.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes," Gaara finally stuck the pretzel into his mouth and began to chew, "It was a little hard to understand at first, but I got it after a little bit."

That was probably the longest sentence Kankuro had ever heard Gaara speak.

"Do you like books?" The question made Kankuro freeze. Gaara didn't ask questions. Gaara barely even cared about anything, and he was asking him if he liked to read?

"No…." He said slowly, "I don't really care for it. I like to work on my puppets. Karasu's finger snapped off yesterday, I've been trying to fix it."

"Oh, I don't know anything about puppets." And that was probably the first time Gaara ever admitted to not knowing something.

Kankuro was conflicted. Why was Gaara telling him this? Why was Gaara confiding in him?

Kankuro bit his lip, "Well- if you wanted, I could teach you something about them."

Gaara looked at him, "really?"

"Sure," Kankuro said, nodding, "I don't see why I can't."

Gaara's lips turned up ever-so-slightly, "Thanks."

He looked down at the box of Granola Squares, which he had closed at some point during their conversation.

"Well, goodnight." Gaara turned and left the kitchen without so much as a back ward glance. Kankuro put the bag of pretzels back in the cabinet and went downstairs, sitting at his desk and reviewing his outline for the puppets broken finger.

It wasn't until he was welding a joint back into place that it dawned on him.

It was the longest conversation Kankuro had ever had with his little brother. At 2 a.m. over stale Granola Squares and a bowl of pretzels.

 **So I know I'm a bit late to the party, but lately Naruto has been making me bang my head against a wall, so I just had to write a little brotherly fic about these two. They don't tell us how Gaara and Kankuro came to start being close to one another, so this is just my little idea.**

 **Please Read and Review.  
-PoisonBones**


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